Report 505: Inquiry into Policy and Program Design and Implementation

REPORT - November 2024

List of recommendations

2.33The Committee requests that the Department of Home Affairs reports on its stakeholder engagement planning improvements within 12 months of the date of this report, including what performance indicators will be included in the policy design to reflect the collection of community sentiment.

3.71The Committee recommends that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry reports back to it on its progress with its Transformation Action Plan within 12 months of the date of this report.

3.72The Committee recommends that the Department of Home Affairs undertake further analysis of the efficient cost of administering the partner visa program (including integrity functions) and provide advice to government regarding the current fee.

4.31The Committee requests that the Department of Health and Aged Care reports back to it on its progress in implementing legislative changes to allow digital assignment of benefit for the MBS.

4.32The Committee recommends that the Australian Government prioritises any necessary legislative changes in order to address the current structure of the Health Insurance Act 1973 to align with the modern technological requirements of telehealth.

4.76The Committee recommends that the Department of Home Affairs ensures thatqualitative factors (including processing times and their impacts) are considered in the analysis of effective direct stakeholder consultation with the Family Migration Program, to better inform and advise the Australian Government and the Parliament.

4.77The Committee requests that the Department of Home Affairs reports back to it on its progress in including more qualitative data and engaging directly with stakeholders within 12 months of the date of this report.

4.78The Committee recommends that the Australian Government consider further reforms to make the partner and child family visa programs truly demand driven with reasonable waiting times, excising these streams from the annual headline permanent migration cap and allocating sufficient processing resources annually to meet projected demand with a reasonable average processing time.

4.81The Committee requests that the Department of the Treasury reports back to it on its progress in strengthening its information management processes, including providing the procedural documentation within 12 months of the date of this report.

5.30The Committee requests that the Department of Health and Aged Care reports back on improvements to performance and impact measuring related to the telehealth expansion MBS items within 12 months of the date of this report.

5.31The Committee requests that the Department of Education reports back on the implementation of its Performance and Data Framework Plan and Stakeholder Engagement Plan within 12 months of the date of this report.

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